The present invention relates to a wiper device fixed to a vehicle body.
Japanese Patent No. 3215671 discloses a wiper device that is fixed to a vehicle body of an automobile or the like and includes two pivot holders, a hollow frame, a drive source, and a link rod. The two pivot holders pivotally support pivot shafts and are each fixed to the vehicle body. The hollow frame is a hollow member that couples the pivot holders to each other. The drive source is fixed to the hollow frame. The link rod transmits the drive force of the drive source to the pivot shaft. The pivot shaft has a distal end fixed to a wiper arm. A wiper blade is coupled to the wiper arm to wipe off raindrops or the like from the surface of the windshield.
Such a wiper device may be made compact, light, and inexpensive by minimizing the pivot holder, which is manufactured with a mold having a complicated shape, and reducing the scale of the molding device while using the hollow frame, which is formed by a hollow member. In other words, in a module type wiper device, the mold and molding device become extremely large and expensive when integrally manufacturing one of the pivot holders with a motor bracket, to which the wiper motor is fixed. However, the wiper device of Japanese Patent No. 3215671 avoids this problem.
From the viewpoint of further impact absorption, there is now a demand for arranging the drive source, which is a rigid body, at a location in the vehicle body that is spaced from the hood of the vehicle body in a direction extending from the distal ends to the basal ends of the pivot shafts, that is, in an area in the vehicle body at the lower side of the windshield. In such a form, a structure that is advantageous for manufacturing or an optimal structure that takes into consideration the drive mechanism is desirable.